The present invention relates to devices for converting binary codes into quantities in the form of mechanically controlled movements. Such devices are utilized in machines controlled by data circuits, e.g., machine tools, transfer machines, automatic handling apparatus, etc., as are well known in the art. The converter can also be substituted for servo motors which have been well known in the prior art. In this, a summation process is used, in which different elements, corresponding to bits in binary code, are added into a quantity corresponding to a decimal number. The device therefore comprises means for mechanically indicating decimal numbers, and adjustment means which, through an outside source, are given a special adjustment for each code.
A binary code, as we know, is composed of a number of terms, consisting of different powers of the number 2. The appearance of a term with a certain exponent is designated by the factor 1 in front of the power expression. Decimal numbers are expressed as the sum of different powers of the number 2, and, vice-versa, the sum of a series of powers of 2 represents, specifically, a certain decimal number. In a concrete embodiment of this principle, a binary code is converted into a decimal dimension by the assembly, in line of, for example, axially placed screw surfaces or cams, whose axial heights represent different powers of the number 2, so that a line composed of selected cams will represent the decimal number which the binary code represents.
Code converters with measuring bodies which are selectively introduced into a measuring device for interpreting a binary code, are known in various forms. Mechanical devices of this kind are saddled with an inertia which up to now has made them unsuitable for recording fast operations. In fast-changing binary codes, the reaction time of the device should not be too long, because there is the risk that the bits of the code will not be reproduced correctly by the device. One way of eliminating this risk is to reduce the inertia of the moving parts and equip the device with adjustment means which, with high precision, arrange the moving parts according to the incoming binary codes.
In mechanical code converters of this type, there is the possibility of substantially amplifying the code-carrying signal simultaneously with the code conversion. In a working machine, it is of great importance to be able to use the output quantity of the converter to produce movements and work operations in the machine. It must therefore be considered desireable that the converter, aside from the said precision in cases of fast-changing binary codes, also have the property of providing a strong amplification of the signals received by the adjustment means.